Natalie C. McKee

Natalie C. McKee is a contributing writer for Tiny House Talk and the Tiny House Newsletter. She is a coffee-loving wannabe homesteader who dreams of becoming self-sufficient in her own tiny home someday. Natalie currently resides in a tiny apartment with her husband, Casey, in Massachusetts.

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This is one of the top 2 or 3 tiny houses I’ve seen! My only question is how effective/durable are the seals between the biology and the main body of the tiny house? Would they hold up to full time living?

I would think so. My experience with bump-outs is from camping/RVs (so not made as nicely!) and we never had issues even though it rained on almost all our trips. Also, if you leave them open most of the time and only close them for occasional travel, you will likely have less issues because they will break down more slowly. — Tiny House Talk Team

This house is absolutely gorgeous. I’m sure you’d have to leave the “bump outs” out for very long periods of time in order to maintain the durability (no leaking). I don’t believe this house was meant to be used as an RV. It’s price is out of my price range, but it’s fun to dream!

Totally agree… I’ve mentioned this in other posts. As a rapidly approaching retirement age bloke, I have issues in stooping. So a loft as we generally see them is out of the question for me. But if there was a bump up (ok, not a bump up more likely a crank up) loft that one could stand up properly in then it’d be a goer from my perspective. With the right stairs obviously, no bleeding ladders for me.

As stated several times on here, I am grateful that more offers like this appearing on the market. It makes a THOW much more attractive especially for older people who don’t want to climb up to sleep. Having said this, a fold away type of bed stores the space consuming bed out of the way when not needed. I am not so much worried about the seals because technology has been improved but an additional cover to protect them from elements like sun, rain, snow, should be added. Putting the high quality materials used, R- values achieved and other features into the account the price tag – although high for a THOW – seems to me reasonable. There are RV’s on the market whch cost more. I hope this one is going to be build.

Yup. RV’s massively overpriced pieces of doo doo. They are poorly constructed. Virtually uninsulated. And start to fall apart as soon as you drive them off the lot. Which is why they’ve never taken off in the New Zealand market. Caravans are better constructed than RV’s.

I think we will see a lot more expandable units coming to the market as time goes on. Going out & going up greatly expands the possibilities. I didn’t see any construction specifics regarding the bump out mechanics/mechanicals on their website. I’m surprised that more of the THOW haven’t gone this route already instead of the same basic loft setups we see on a continuing basis. While the loft units seem to work for the younger crowd, most people in my age group (59) are not too fond of them for everyday personal use. I’d like to see more expandable units & particularly some homebuilt ones in the future, more ‘ceiling’ beds, more murphy beds, & transformable interior layouts. There are so many concepts just waiting to be built. I’ll be anxiously awaiting this build, specific mechanical details related to its construction, & the many similar builds (hopefully) to come.

I am designing two now. One for the youngest heading off to college and the other for me. Both use a drop deck instead of a goose-neck. This achieves a better lower loft area creating more headroom and is a lower deck to the ground in front of the wheels. My house has a hot tub on the front drop with a second walk in door to the bathroom. Above is a loft that can exit to the upper deck as a sun deck then down to the tub. Work in progress, pulls with a 3500 and a small 5th wheel not a bed truck.

No way would I even reserve one of these for a 1000 bucks nor would I even entertain the thought about giving them almost $75,000.00 for this house either… There is nothing in this house that even remotely deserves that kind of money…! It’s insane…! For what 2 bump outs…? There’s nothing in it’s list of attributes that even comes close to costing that kind of money either.. So why would I even want to reserve one……

With twice the square footage, $75k seems reasonable to me. Half of that would be $39,500 for 168 square feet and seems like lots of tiny houses are in that price range for that size. It also has the advantage of removing the wheels to convert it to a permanent house, according to their website (not sure exactly how that works). For what it’s worth $75k is only half of what we currently owe on our mortgage, so it would still be a great savings for us. And because we have extended family to consider even when the kids are grown (we have an in-law living with us), there would be 3 adults in our tiny house. The bedroom/office that closes off completely could be a huge benefit for privacy and working from home with other people in the house. Everyone’s situation is different, so everyone’s solution will be different.

I feel like this defeats the purpose of a tiny house. might as well just buy a small plot of land and build a small house. this doesn’t seem very convenient to me. too much unused space. it’s tall, but there’s no loft. it expands, but to make a single bedroom. sorry to be the downer here.

Not everyone can (or wants to) just buy a piece of land in one spot and stay there forever. The mobility of a tiny house is the most important part to me. I’ve been stuck in just a few places all my life with jobs and family commitments, and not been able to travel much. So when my kids are grown (soon), I plan to stay with friends and relatives around the country as a way to figure out where to settle down. Once I choose a desired location, then I can think about permanent buildings. One advantage of this tiny house is the wheels can be removed to become a permanent building – at least that’s what it says in their FAQs. Also, it doesn’t just expand to make a single bedroom. It’s a bedroom/office with it’s own walls and doors for privacy, and a living room on the other side… and hopefully enough floorspace to do some yoga. Wish the center of this one wasn’t divided with the wall, but maybe it adds to the structural strength of the house.

IMO the mobility is the real advantage of a THOW, vs. a park model or a small foundation house. That said, it seems that Tiny House Listings shows a lot of houses where the owner says he has to sell because of a job change, or he has to move to be with family. Why couldn’t he take his house with him; isn’t that the point of the THOW? So I wonder if these houses are harder to move that it sounds like. [maybe he couldn’t find land at his destination?]

Also, these houses are all relatively new. We don’t know how they’d hold up after repeated moves. You could very well move your house 4-5 times, find your perfect spot, and find that your house is falling apart. It might be more feasible to travel the country in a small camper, or just rent motel rooms/studios for 3-6 months at a time.

I think most folks have to sell them later because they can’t find parking. That, right now, is the biggest barrier to THOWs. There are very few places that have no zoning rules, and so fitting a THOW into the current rules can be a huge challenge. — Tiny House Talk Team

It’s always fascinating to read the comments on this site. They just serve to prove that, like beauty, the perfect tiny house is in the eye of the beholder.

We all have different needs and future plans and there is no one tiny house that fits everyone’s needs and expectations.

I’m looking at tiny houses as a long term retirement solution. I have what many people would think is an ideal house but it’s bigger than I need, the heating and maintenance costs rise yearly as my income and my physical abilities slowly decrease. Also, I like the idea of being able to move my tiny house easily if my situation changes. I want things like a murphy bed, first floor bedroom and enough room to move around and care for myself if I need something like a walker in the future.

Those needs are significantly different than others looking for a tiny house. I don’t like many of the small tiny houses because they look to me like a small motel room – okay for a night or two but no place to live full time. For many others, they work perfectly for their needs.

I want to downsize and can see myself living quite comfortably in a tiny house but my personal definition of a comfortable “tiny” house is 300-350 sq. feet.

I want to live tiny but I don’t want to sacrifice creature comforts, either. So $75,000 for this tiny house is not out of line for me.

Mary I really loved this contribution! I think you hit the nail on the head 🙂 No one tiny house design could possibly fit the needs of every person looking for one. Which is why we post a wide range of styles, sizes and prices 🙂 — Tiny House Talk Team

Some good ideas in this design, though perhaps not for me. I imagine the bump-out “seams” hinder it’s energy efficiency, especially in Canadian winters. Not sure the added square-footage is a major gain when it requires that the floor plan be divided in this way either. Great for somebody, just not me.